Linux Mint Forums • Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

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Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:18 am

by aneurysm1985

I am having trouble getting Linux Mint 13 (64 Bit, Maya) to recognise my ASUS N13 USB wireless network adapter.

After trying advice from many forum posts from Linux users with problems with the N13, I have not resolved the issue. Thought I'd start a fresh support thread, to step through my issues step by step.

Firstly, some output of 2 terminal commands:
inxi -h

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System:    Host: stuart-desktop Kernel: 3.2.0-23-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.6.3) 
           Desktop: Gnome  (Gtk 2.24.10) Distro: Linux Mint 13 Maya
Machine:   Mobo: Gigabyte model: GA-MA785GMT-UD2H Bios: Award version: F9 date: 05/25/2010
CPU:       Quad core AMD Phenom II X4 925 (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm) bmips: 22500.6 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 2812.575 MHz 2: 2812.575 MHz 3: 2812.575 MHz 4: 2812.575 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS880 [Radeon HD 4200] bus-ID: 01:05.0 
           X.Org: 1.11.3 driver: fglrx Resolution: 1280x800@60.0hz, 1920x1080@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: ATI Radeon HD 4200 GLX Version: 3.3.11627 - CPC Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
           Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS880 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4200 Series] driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:05.1
           Card-3: Logitech Webcam C200 driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 046d:0802
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: 1.0.24
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: de00 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 2000.4GB (49.9% used) 1: /dev/sda WDC_WD10EARS 1000.2GB 
           2: /dev/sdb 10EAVS_External 1000.2GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 919G used: 599G (69%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 12.61GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 58.4C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 162 Uptime: 1:13 Memory: 988.0/11764.7MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.6.3 Client: Shell inxi: 1.7.33

sudo /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintWifi/mintWifi.py

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sudo /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintWifi/mintWifi.py
-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
netrtwlanu : driver installed
	device (0B05:17AB) present (alternate driver: rtl8192cu)
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          
eth0      no wireless extensions.

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 6c:f0:49:7a:be:53  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:41 Base address:0xa000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:11226 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:11226 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:891160 (891.1 KB)  TX bytes:891160 (891.1 KB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 50:46:5d:a5:45:8e  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...
-------------------------
* VI. querying nslookup google.com...
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

From my reading, I learned that there seem to be ASUS N13 devices with multiple chipsets. Hence, driver problems/solutions will be different for different groups of users.

I used the terminal command lsusb to learn that the lspci for my N13 USB device is 0b05:17ab. Output was:

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Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0b05:17ab ASUSTek Computer, Inc.

My main problem: unsure if driver is installed properly
I am not certain what the correct driver source / installation technique for this chipset is. Can anyone help me with this knowledge?

Earlier in my trial/error, I followed this advice on the Ubuntu knowledge base. Did I make a mistake following this advice, since it is for a device with a different chipset? If so, please let me know how to undo this change.

Driver doesn't support my Kernel version?
I am lead to believe that this is the appropriate driver for the 0b05:17ab device. However, the version 3.4.4_4749 driver listed on that page only lists support for “Linux Kernel 2.6.18~2.6.38 and Kernel 3.0.8”. Could this be the problem? My Mint 13 installation uses Linux Kernel 3.2.0-23-generic.

Linux only detects wireless occasionally
At first, it seemed that Linux was not recognising the USB device as a wireless network adaptor at all. Then I followed this solution and rebooted my computer. Coincidentally or not, this time the blue light appeared on my USB device, and Linux Mint listed 'Wireless' as an option in my 'Network Settings' window. It even detected the household wi-fi network which I was hoping to connect to!

Unfortunately, despite me definitely entering the correct username and password (and mirroring the network settings from the Ubuntu 11.04 machine which I am writing this forum post via), I was not able to connect to this network.

Since then, I have shut down/restarted my Mint 13 machine about12 times, and the blue light has only appeared on my USB wireless adaptor on 3 of those boots.

Thanks in advance for your help.

n.b. to solution-givers: I can't get any network connectivity through the affected Mint 13 computer to access updates from the repositories (wireless is my only internet option in this house...). However, I can use USBs to copy and paste files/Terminal commands onto the PC.

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:45 am

by caf4926

What about

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lsub -v

See if you can get us just the part we need, as it's rather bloated otherwise.

But honestly, I find it more viable to just get a device that works OOTB
Eg: Belkin F5D7050

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:24 am

by AlbertP

I see you installed a driver with ndiswrapper. You should not need to do this since there is a native Linux driver available. Please remove the Windows driver from Windows Wireless Drivers, reboot, and post the output of:

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inxi -N

The Asus USB-N13 indeed has an A1 and a B1 revision. A1 has a Ralink RT3072 chip, B1 has a Realtek RTL8192CU chip. You are having the B1 revision (this page lists your device ID: http://www.wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_USB-N13_rev_B1).

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:15 pm

by aneurysm1985

Thanks to caf4926 and AlbertP for replying. Here are my responses to your suggestions:

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lsub -v
No command 'lsub' found, did you mean:
 Command 'lsusb' from package 'usbutils' (main)
 Command 'qsub' from package 'gridengine-client' (universe)
 Command 'qsub' from package 'torque-client' (multiverse)
 Command 'qsub' from package 'torque-client-x11' (universe)
lsub: command not found

And after removing the Windows driver from ndiswrapper (one of the various things I was trying yesterday...)

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inxi -N
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller driver: r8169

If you believe I have the B1 chip, could you please step me through obtaining/installing the driver please. I am not a totally confident Linux user.

Cheers, Stuart

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:51 pm

by pdc_2

in relation to the RTL8192CU, I see in a post yesterday on the OpenSuse forum

http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get- ... -11-n.html

........post #3 that larry finger commented about the rtl8192cu ....that it

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[color=#408000]is a regular part of the kernel.

There is a major bug in that driver that was just found. It will be some time
before the fix percolates through the system. If you cannot wait, you will need
to patch the kernel sources and build your own kernel. If that is what you want
to do, let me know.[/color]

this post http://kernel.opensuse.org/cgit/kernel/ ... 1892d393a5 details its inclusion in the kernel

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 1:05 am

by aneurysm1985

Well spotted - thanks.

Can you please explain the implications of this for me. i.e. how to proceed from here and get the driver to match up with my Linux kernel.

Remember that I currently have no way of getting internet to the affected PC for updates, etc.

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 6:27 am

by caf4926

aneurysm1985 wrote:Well spotted - thanks.

Can you please explain the implications of this for me. i.e. how to proceed from here and get the driver to match up with my Linux kernel.

Remember that I currently have no way of getting internet to the affected PC for updates, etc.

If it were me
I'd just buy something that works
As I suggested earlier

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:57 am

by AlbertP

I meant lsusb instead of lsub - probably made a typo with that.

Maybe the rtl8192cu driver is still blacklisted because you had tried to get it working with ndiswrapper. Could you try this in terminal:

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sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper.conf

Also, the bug that pdc_2 posted is about the RTL8188CUS chip. This chip uses the same driver (rtl8192cu), hence the confusion.

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 6:23 pm

by aneurysm1985

Thanks. Here is the result of lsusb -v (I have only copied/pasted the output relevant to the wireless USB device - let me know if you'd like the full output, including my other USB devices such as mouse, graphics tablet).

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Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0b05:17ab ASUSTek Computer, Inc. 
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x0b05 ASUSTek Computer, Inc.
  idProduct          0x17ab 
  bcdDevice            2.00
  iManufacturer           1 
  iProduct                2 
  iSerial                 3 
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           46
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           4
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass    255 Vendor Specific Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol    255 Vendor Specific Protocol
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x03  EP 3 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x84  EP 4 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               1

Also, I just entered your terminal command:

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sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper.conf

After a reboot, nothing is working differently with regards to the network card detecting/connecting to networks.

Could someone please step me through the driver download/installation process for this Realtek RTL8192CU driver. Just in case there is a lingering problem from when I tried to do this myself. I wasn't 100% confident in my installation.

If I cannot get this working in another 2-3 days, I may very well take caf4926's suggestion and eBay the ASUS N13 network adaptor and buy a new one which works Out of the Box. What is the best resource for researching N300 compatible (i.e. 300Mbps) USB network adaptors? The Linux Mint Community Hardware database?

Anyway, let's try to get this device working before we go and spend $ on new equipment

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:12 am

by AlbertP

Could you run inxi -N again? Hopefully it'll show that the rtl8192cu driver is in use for your device. If not, please run:

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sudo modprobe rtl8192cu
dmesg | grep rtl

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:12 am

by AlbertP

Could you run inxi -N again? Hopefully it'll show that the rtl8192cu driver is in use for your device. If not, please run:

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sudo modprobe rtl8192cu
dmesg | grep rtl

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:25 pm

by aneurysm1985

Hi AlbertP and team.

The first command seemed to have the expected result:

inxi -N

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Network:   Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller driver: r8169

However, I still went ahead and entered the second command.

sudo modprobe rtl8192cu
dmesg | grep rtl

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[   45.565866] rtl8192cu: MAC address: 50:46:5d:a5:45:8e
[   45.565871] rtl8192cu: Board Type 0
[   46.084119] rtlwifi: rx_max_size 15360, rx_urb_num 8, in_ep 1
[   46.133072] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'rtl_rc'
[   46.133481] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
[   46.565036] rtl8192cu: MAC auto ON okay!
[   46.621553] rtl8192cu: Tx queue select: 0x05
[   46.622515] rtl8192c_common: Loading firmware file rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw.bin

Nothing seems to have changed since doing this. The wireless hasn't miraculously started working.

Interestingly, despite me shutting down/restarting my computer 6 times, the computer only recognised the USB network adaptor 1 of those time. (On all other attempts, the blue light was not on, and 'wireless' was not a networking option available to me).

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 12:42 am

by caf4926

I think you need to install the compat-wireless module

But as I look, it's not available for the kernel in a default 13 install. You would need to change the settings to allow the kernel to upgrade. Then install the matching CW module.

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 1:09 am

by aneurysm1985

If you think that is the solution, please post the steps and I can try it on my machine.

I may be able to temporarily move my computer (it is a desktop) to close to my router and plug in via cat-5 cable, to download any necessary files. Or let me know if there is a way to put the files on my desktop via a USB thumbdrive.

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 1:18 am

by caf4926

aneurysm1985 wrote:If you think that is the solution, please post the steps and I can try it on my machine.

I may be able to temporarily move my computer (it is a desktop) to close to my router and plug in via cat-5 cable, to download any necessary files. Or let me know if there is a way to put the files on my desktop via a USB thumbdrive.

You would need to be wired.

I think you should start a new thread to ask how to let the kernel upgrade so as to be able to use compat-wireless. I'm not 100% clear on the exact steps

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 2:06 pm

by AlbertP

@ caf4926: You don't need a kernel upgrade. compat-wireless can just be installed. I will post the how-to soon.

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 4:57 pm

by caf4926

AlbertP wrote:@ caf4926: You don't need a kernel upgrade. compat-wireless can just be installed. I will post the how-to soon.

I couldn't see a matching module for kernel:
3.2.0-23-generic

Which is what I have in 13

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 5:23 pm

by AlbertP

compat-drivers (formerly called compat-wireless) can be installed without pre-built packages.

Please download the package from here: https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel ... 3-2.tar.xz
After extracting the XZ file, go to the folder where you extracted it, right-click > Open in Terminal, then run these commands to install it:

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./scripts/driver-select rtlwifi
make
sudo make install

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 6:03 pm

by aneurysm1985

Thanks for those instructions. I did everything AlbertP asked, and it seemed to make and install properly.

I rebooted the computer, and the wireless is still not currently working.

I noted the following output after sudo make install was finished:

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make -C /lib/modules/3.2.0-23-generic/build M=/home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2 modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic'
  Building modules, stage 2.
  MODPOST 13 modules
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic'
make -C /lib/modules/3.2.0-23-generic/build M=/home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2 "INSTALL_MOD_DIR=updates"  \
		modules_install
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic'
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/compat/compat.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/compat/sch_codel.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/compat/sch_fq_codel.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8192c/rtl8192c-common.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8192ce/rtl8192ce.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8192cu/rtl8192cu.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8192de/rtl8192de.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8192se/rtl8192se.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtl8723ae/rtl8723ae.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/drivers/net/wireless/rtlwifi/rtlwifi.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/net/rfkill/rfkill-regulator.ko
  INSTALL /home/stuart/compat-drivers-3.8.3-2/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
  DEPMOD  3.2.0-23-generic
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic'

Note: iwl4965 detected, we're going to disable it. If you would like to enable it later you can run:
    sudo iwl-load iwl4965

Running iwl-enable iwlagn...
Disabling iwl4965 ...	[OK]	Module disabled:
kernel/drivers/net/wireless/iwlegacy/iwl4965.ko
depmod will prefer updates/ over kernel/ -- OK!

Now run:

sudo make unload to unload all: wireless, bluetooth and ethernet modules
sudo make wlunload to unload wireless modules
sudo make btunload to unload bluetooth modules

Run sudo modprobe driver-name to load your desired driver.
If unsure reboot.

Perhaps there is something else I need to do to load the correct driver for my particular wireless adaptor?

Please advise me. Thanks in advance.

Re: Wireless problems in Mint 13 with ASUS N13 (0b05:17ab)

Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 12:29 am

by caf4926

Did you do

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sudo make wlunload

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sudo make btunload

and then

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sudo modprobe rtl8192cu